Modern mines for the underground mining (extraction) of minerals in faces shift more and more work to the surface. This includes, above all, the monitoring and also control of the extraction process. In order to be able to visualize the extraction process by way of the extracting plant on the surface and to optimize the extraction process, the most precise knowledge possible is required of the respective current position of as many plant components as possible, such as, in particular, of the face conveyor with, where applicable, a mounted machine control unit for an extracting machine, of the extracting machine itself and, where applicable, also of the support frames of a shield-type support system, by means of which the face or the underground stope is kept open and it is possible to displace the plant components of the extracting plant in the extracting or mining direction. As through the dynamic process, e.g. when extracting coal, there is a change in the position and location both of the technical extracting and conveying systems in the face and that of the plant components positioned in the roads, an effective solution for measuring and determining the position, where possible, of all these plant components in three-dimensional space (3D) and/or for measuring and determining the location of the plant components in relation to each other has long been looked for.
EP 1 276 969 makes known entraining with the extracting machine a measuring system having an inertial navigation system in order to obtain, in two-dimensional space, a determining of a position of the rail guide of the face conveyor and of the extracting machine guided thereon. Drive signals for displacing devices are to be derived in turn from the positional data recorded with the inertial system in order to obtain control of the extracting plant or of the guide means in 3D space. Using the inertial navigation system, changes in location are determined with reference to an initial or starting point, it being possible, whenever a starting point is known in mine surveyor's terms, to also determine absolute 3D coordinates arithmetically from the relative movements determined with the inertial navigation system. The measurement data prepared by the inertial navigation system is coupled to the movement of the extracting machine.
For a shield-type support frame, the mounting of inclination detectors on the shield-type support frame has long been known, such as for example on its shield caps, fracture shield, control levers or runner, by means of which inclination detectors the relative location of the shield components to each other or also the absolute location of the shield components is determined. In DE 10 2007 035 848 B4 a multi-dimensional detector with acceleration sensors is proposed as inclination sensor in order to detect, in conjunction with a self-advancing sensor, the space/time coordinates of the shield-type support frame in relation to the face conveyor and to improve the automation of the mining of a coal face.
A method and device for optical distance measuring is known for geodetic surveying (cf. DE 198 40 049). A triangulation method is frequently employed for land surveying where sensors are used that are also designated as triangulation sensors or reflection light scanners. A light emitter emits light that after reflection at an object by means of a lens is supplied to a locally resolving, mainly optoelectronic image sensor in order to draw conclusions as to the distance of the object from the known geometry of the sensor.